In 1899 John Rushtons and Sons Slater's of Lee Mill won a slating contract for a new tea facdtry in New Cross London.  The firm had their offices at the top of Rushton Street, Lee Mill. Rushtons were responsible for slating some very large well known buildings of their time. Such as, a contract in Broadheath, Cheshire for the Linotype Company Ltd. The slating of the Pilkington Bros glass works in St Helens in total the Rushtons did work for the Pilkington Bros spanning a  period of eight to ten years. Over a period from 1879 to 1889 Rushtons and Sons carried out various contracts all over the country some of these included. For the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company station buildimgs at  Pendleton, Pendlebury, Swinton, Darcy Lever and Littleborough, goods wharehouses at Kirkham, Accrington, and Radcliffe, grain wharehouses at Halifax, enginesheds at Lowmoor. 75 cottages at Smedley Road Manchester. Wharehouses and loading sheds at Halifax for the Great Northern Railway Company.British Insulated Wire Works at Prescott. Lancashire Watch Compnays Works Prescott. The Atlas Bobbin Works, Garston, Liverpool for Wilson Bros Ltd. Holy Trinity Mission House, Blackfriars, Salford. St John the Baptist Church, New Springs Wigan. Cottage Homes, Middlewood, For Rochdale Guardians. Buildings in Heywood Park. Large addiditon to Kays Hospital Summerseat. Todmorden Parish Church. St Pauls Church Macclesfield. River Wyre Hotel Poulton along with many others. Bacup had a number of Blacksmiths the forges were more commonly known as " Smithies" the one at Change Sharneyford was run by the Lord family. Mr Richard Lord began the smithy and ran it with his son  John Robert Lord, who in turn ran it with his son Herbert who died in 1944. One of the oldest blacksmiths shop was situated at Lee Mill built about 1842 the smithy was run by the Graham family for over four generations. The first blacksmith being Mr James Graham who then passed the business onto his son Mr John Frederick Graham and then to his son James Frederick Graham. In August 1942 the business was sold when the then owner Fred Lord Graham was called up to do work of " National Importance " The Princess Street blacksmith run by the Halsteads was put up for sale in 1881 due to a lack of trade. Pictured above are right to left Henry Culley, Fred Dunkling,Dick Halstead  Mr James Taylor was a master blacksmith who ran a business in Manor Street Bacup for 45 years the business closing at the time of his death in 1956. The Beeby brothers are pictured below they were Reed and Heald makers who had their factory off Tong Lane opposite the streets of Brick and Clay street. A reed and heald were both used in a loom for the process of weaving. A reed was like a comb the teeth being secured at the top and bottom. The heald is a series of threads into which an eye has been 'knitted'. The series of threads are held firm on wooden staves. Each single thread of the heald has an eye to separate the thread as it leaves the back beam (warp beam).The warp thread will go through healds on alternate staves. The staves alternately move up and down to form a 'shed' for the shuttle whilst simultaneously making pattern in the weave. A 'shed' (as the space is named) allows the shuttle to cross through the space formed between the reed and open heald.Warp thread then passes through the reed (usually made of metal) which keeps the warp thread separate. The reed, with its to and fro movement, 'beats' the weft thread into place (like a comb) as it is placed by the shuttle passing across the full width of the loom. The home of the first Post office in Bacup was situated at the bottom of Burnley Road  known at the time has Harris Printers. It was then moved to Market Street. In 1905 there were four deliveries  per day by postmen starting at 7.15 am, 1.30 pm, 4.30 pm and 6.30 pm. However there was no 6.30 delivery on any Tuesday. In September 1910  the site was laid out for a new Post Office which would stand on the opposite side of the road to the original and on a site where once stood the house of Dr Snell and others. The first stone being laid in October. The Post Office opened in January 1911. Ingham Taylor was one of many barbers in the area who advertised his trade by the traditional red and white stripped pole displayed outside the shop. At one time Barbers were also dentists and surgeons performing enemas, bloodletting and wound surgery. The history of the barber pole is intertwined with the history of barbers and their bloodletting practices. Patients would grasp a rod so tightly that their veins would show, at which point the barber would cut open their arms and bleed them until they fainted. After the procedure, washed bandages were hung outside on a pole to dry and to advertise the ghastly therapeutic specialities offered in the barbershop. Flapping in the wind, the long strips of bandages would twist around the pole in the spiral pattern we now associate with barbers. The practice of bloodletting had long since been abandoned by barbers. Unfortunately there are no details about thie group of servants shown above other than they worked for a Bacup family. There can be little doubt the family they worked for was one of the wealthiest in Bacup. The likelihood is the lady in the middle of the picture would have been the housekeeper. She would have been responsible for all the female servants, hiring and firing of them, the linen and china  cupboards, housekeeping money and making arrangements for guests. Also pictured it would seem are the cook,  a ladies made and nursemaid, housemaid and kitchen maid along with the butler who would in some households also act as he male valet. The young man pictured was probably the footman. Small boys aged between 5 and 10 were often sought out to become apprentices to chimney sweeps. Quite often they were orphans and had no one to care about the kind of treatment they received at the hands of unscrupulous employers. If the young lad was scared  to climb the narrow high chimneys the sweep would give him some encouragement by holding a lighted taper under one of his bare feet. One of the first known industrial disease was chimney sweeps cancer which appeared in the testicles and was caused by the effect of the soot on the naked body. The agreement shown below was drawn up between local chimney sweep James Swain and his apprentice Lawrence Slattery. Bacup's last full time chimney sweep Mr Roland Hurrell was given 15 years notice to quite in June 1972. This was the amount of time it was thought it would take to make Bacup a smokeless zone. Irwell Springs was known as the corner dye works.The effluent from their dyeing plant coloured the river Irwell, black, blue, yellow or whatever colour was being  used at the time. The works was run by various owners over the years. John Seiber a swiss national came into partnership with John Greenwood  but following the deaths of both partners the business was taken over by Charles Seiber employing a workforce of 100 by 1865 trading as the Irwell Springs Turkey Red Dyeing Company.  The works were eventually closed until 1896 when it was purchased by Archibald Edmeston & Company textile engineers.With Calico printin being started again in 1898 trading as Irwell Springs Printing Company. By 1913 there had been expansions to the works and it now employed about 400 people. The company closed in 1964. Rockliffe Vale Corn Mill was situated just across the track from Ross Mill. Originally built as a calico printowrks in 1837. The mill was taken over for cron milling in 1865. By 1870 the mill was being run by Daniel Greenwood and partner. Parts of the mill were leased to shuttle makers Joseph Milner & Co. Various other manufaturers rented the mill over the years. In 1883 railway sidings were in place . In 1911 the building was destroyed by fire and eventually by 1912-1913 the remains had been demolished. The Bacup Prudential Team The Company was founded on 30 May 1848 in Hatton Garden in London as The Prudential Mutual Assurance Investment and Loan Association providing loans to professional and working people.In 1854 the Company began selling the relatively new concept of industrial branch insurance policies to the working class population for premiums as low as one penny through agents acting as door to door salesmen. The army of premium collection agents was for many years identified with the Prudential as the "Man from the Pru". Clickers at work at Grove mill home of Samuel McLeries slipper works the first of such to arrive in Bacup in 1898. At the time of the move to Grove Mill Samuel had been in the slipper industry for 20 years and  was in partnership with his two elder sons, James and Jack but in 1900 they withdrew from the partnership and began their own firm J&J Mc'Cleries at New Hey Mills. Bacup’s Emplyment Exchange was situated next to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank until the new building was opened on Gladstone Street in 1930. Most houses were lit by candles or oil lamps. The oil used was parrafin,  the Lamp Oil Man named Smith pictured above  would like the rag and bone man go from house to house refilling the householders lamps with the parrafin oil.